Waking Up
by Revolution Mockingjay
Summary: How did I get here? What's going on? Why does this boy know nothing about America? What is this Hunger Games he speaks of? Why are there children killing people everywhere I turn? Why do I remember nothing from my past?
1. Chapter One

My eyes flutter open. Where am I? What's going on? I breathe heavily and smell smoke. I look up and see the sun every now and then. Where am I?

I hear someone running and quickly sit up. Maybe they'll help me.

"Hey! Hello!" I shout, running toward the footsteps. A boy who looks to be a bit older than me rushes out of the trees.

"Woah!" he shouts, suddenly taking out a sword.

"Don't hit me!" I shout, not sure why he has a sword. "I just was wondering if you could tell me where I was?"

The boy blinks and doesn't put the sword down.

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"Where am I?" I repeat.

There's a boom from above and the boy quickly shoves me along the path.

"What's going on?" I ask after another boom sounds.

"Run!" the boy shouts. So I do. I don't know what from, exactly, but if someone tells you to run, you run.

"Okay, you can stop now," the boy says after we run for a while.

"What the heck is going on?" I ask, breathing heavily from the run.

"You honestly don't know?" he asks, staring at me with disbelief.

"Not a clue," I say. "I just woke up here a few minutes ago."

"You're in the Hunger Games," the boy says.

"Hunger Games? What's that?" I ask. "Like, are we supposed to eat something? 'Cause I'd gladly do so. I'm starving."

"No," the boy says. "It's a game where we have to kill each other."

I burst out laughing.

"Yeah, right," I said, laughing hard. "Like anybody would do that!"

"I'm serious," the boy says, his face hard.

I slowly stop laughing as I realize something: He's not joking.

"Why... why do we have to kill each other?" I ask.

"It's the way the Capitol shows us who's boss," the boy says.

"The Capitol?" I ask. "As in the Capitol building?"

"What?" the boy says, obviously confused.

"The Capitol building," I repeat.

"Where is it?"

"Uh... Washington D.C."

"Where?"

"Washington D.C. I thought I already said that..."

"What's Washington D.C.?" The boy blinks, confusion filling his face entirely.

"It's a... um... a state in America," I say. I look at the boy's face and see that he looks American. He should know what Washington D.C. is...

"America?" the boy asks.

"Honestly?" I say, awe filling me. "You honestly don't know what America is?"

He shakes his head slowly.

"Guess you've never heard of the President, either, have you?" I ask.

"President Snow? Yeah; I've heard of him," the boy says.

"Who?" I ask. Who the heck is President Snow?

"President Snow," the boy says.

"Never heard of him," I say. "I've heard of George Washington, though. And Abraham Lincoln."

"Who the heck are those dudes?" the boy says.

"They're practically world-famous!" I exclaim. Why do neither of us know what the other is talking about?

"How much do you remember?" the boy whispers.

"I..." I start to say, pondering what I remember from before I woke up. That's when I realize it: I remember nothing.


	2. Chapter Two

"Duck!" the boy shouts, and I obey. I hear something whoosh past my head and then a thud. I look up and see a girl with a sword sticking out of her stomach. Saliva runs out of her mouth and her eyes stare blankly up at the sky. She looks to be only twelve years old. My stomach lurches and I lean against a tree as I throw up.

"You okay?" the boy asks gently.

I lay against the tree and let the breeze cool me down.

"Yeah," I mutter. "Why did you kill her?"

"She would have killed both of us if I hadn't," the boy says.

"Why?" I ask.

"It's the way the Games work," the boy says. "I'm Mathaius, by the way."

"Matha-Mathaius?" I say, trying to repeat it.

"Yeah," the boy, Mathaius, says. "You can just call me Mathai."

"Nice to meet you, Mathai," I say, shaking his hand. "I'd tell you my name, but I don't know it."

"What would you like to be called?" Mathai asks.

"Well... how about Gwen?" I ask.

"Gwen? That's a weird name," Mathai says.

"And Mathai isn't?" I question.

"Not here it isn't," he says, taking my hand. "Come on; we have to get out of here."

"Wait, what was that big explosion when I woke up?" I ask.

"Oh, that was the volcano," Mathai says.

"What?" I say, my eyes large.

"A volcano," Mathai repeats. "It's sort of a big mountain that spits out lava."

"I know what a volcano is," I say. "But why is there a volcano here?"

"It's part of the arena," he says and starts to walk off with me.

"Arena?" I ask.

"Yeah; that's where we are now," Mathai says.

"Why are we in an arena?" I ask.

"To kill people," Mathai says, as if that's totally normal.

"I can't kill someone," I say, shaking my head.

"If you want to live, you will," Mathai says.

I hear a whooshing noise and pain immediately enters my shoulder. I scream and look at my shoulder quickly. An arrow is sticking out of it. Mathai curses and quickly heads in the direction the arrow flew in. I hear a scream, and then all is silent. There's a crashing noise and I look for somewhere to hide, but there is nowhere. I'm in the open. I brace myself for someone to leap out of the bushes and attack me, but Mathai only appears.

"I got him," he says, breathing heavily. "There's only nine left, now."

"What?" I ask.

"There are only nine alive," he says, taking my hand again and leading me through the forest. "After all of them are dead, I'll be crowned the victor."

"All of them?" I whisper.

He looks at me, suddenly realizing what he's said.

"I won't kill you, of course," he says, but then hesitates. "I mean, if I have to I will, but... you know, how about we just split up now?"

"What?" I ask, fear filling me. By "split up" does he mean he wants to kill me now?

"I mean we go in opposite directions," Mathai says.

"But I have no idea what's going on!" I exclaim.

"Good," Mathai says. "Maybe that will get you killed quickly. Goodbye."

He starts to leave.

"Wait!" I exclaim, running after him. "What the heck do you mean by 'killed quickly'?!"

Mathai whirls around, inches from my face.

"I mean that if you struggle, they'll make it a show," he says. "I don't want it to come down to the two of us. You go right, I'll go left. Don't try to figure this game out; it's sick. Goodbye."

And with that, Mathai left me. I stood there alone, the sky suddenly growing dark. I was all alone and more confused than ever before.


	3. Chapter Three

Rain pours down on my head, soaking my body and black straight hair. I sigh and lean against a tree. This must be a dream; there's no other explanation.

A cannon suddenly sounds and my head whips upward. A girl's face appears in the sky and I shudder. _This is all just a dream, _I think. _Just a dream..._

I hear shuffling and a boy dashes out of the bushes and halts when he sees me. He lifts his knife.

"Go ahead," I say, sagging against the tree. If he kills me, I'll wake up. He stares at me for a moment but then arches his back and throws his knife. It comes toward my face and everything goes in slow motion. I don't feel it hit my forehead, I don't drop to the ground dead, I don't wake up. I just stand there. The boy stares at me with confusion.

"What the heck?" he mutters. He throws another knife at me. It's a perfect shot, and yet it doesn't hit me. I turn around and see that two of his knives are lodged in the tree behind me. Another knife suddenly lodges itself into the tree. But how did it get past me? I turn around and stare at the boy and he stares back.

"What are you?" he says, slowly backing away.

"Wait! Come back!" I shout, dashing after him. I feel weird. Something boils inside me, something mad. I want to kill this boy. I want to take away his life. I want to see his blood on my hands. I lunge at him and tackle him to the ground. He stares wide-eyed at me. I thrust my hand through his neck and his eyes bulge, and then a cannon sounds.

The madness leaves me. I shake my head and pull my hand out of his neck. My hand has turned to razors. They quickly change back into a normal hand and I back against a tree.

"What's wrong with me?" I whisper. I look over at the dead boy and my stomach lurches. I killed him with one hand.

Every time a tribute nears me, my madness returns and I lunge at them. Most of them get away because I hold myself back, but a few aren't as lucky.

Why am I killing them? Why are my hands turning into razors? Why do my teeth feel sharper than ever before?

Now there are only five kids left. I don't want to kill them anymore. I want to die. I want to die so badly. But I can't. Nobody can kill me, no matter how hard they try. Why can't they?


	4. Chapter Four

"Attention, Tributes," a man's voice says above me. "There will be a feast soon at the Cornucopia. You all need something desperately. An remember, there are only four of you left. May the odds be ever in your favor."

Four of us left, I think. Wait a minute. Only four? I counted five, including myself. Maybe somebody died while I was asleep? No, that doesn't make any sense. I would have woken up from the sound of their cannons... so how did I miscount?

I have no idea what a feast is, but I'm hoping that it will involve food. I'm starving.

I silently creep through the woods and find a large silver thing in the center of a field. In front of it, a table raises up out of the ground with backpacks on it. Darn, I think. It's not food. Wait. Maybe food is in the backpacks...

Somebody suddenly dashes out of the bushes, races across the lawn, grabs a backpack, and then darts back. It's so fast that it takes me a minute to realize what's happened. I get ready to run when somebody else dashes out of the bushes, grabs a backpack, and dashes back. There are only two backpacks left. If I don't get out there now, the next person will probably take mine.

Just as I dash out of the bushes, somebody else reaches the table and grabs a bag. But they don't take the other one. They dash past me and into the forest. I stroll over to the table. Nobody will hurt me; they all have their backpacks. I reach for the backpack when, suddenly, I feel something cold under my neck. I stare into the eyes of a tribute. But how is that possible? The man said there were four tributes; three have already gotten their backpack, which means that I should be the fourth one. But then how is there a fifth tribute standing in front of me now?

"Give me my backpack," the boy says, holding his sword under my chin.

"Your backpack? It's mine," I say, clutching the backpack to my chest. No way is he getting this. If there's food in it, it's mine.

"Who are you, anyway?" the boy says. "There's only supposed to be four of us. Why are you here?"

Anger boils inside me. I don't know why I'm here, I don't know why, all I want is this stupid backpack! I feel my hands turn to razors and a second later, I see my hand shoved inside the boy's chest. His eyes bulge out of his head and he falls to the ground, along with his sword, and my hand slips out of his chest, the razors disappearing.

"What am I?" I whisper as a cannon sounds. I hear a scream and another cannon sounds, and a girl's face appears in the sky.

"Attention, tributes," a voice says. "It has come down to the final tributes. If you don't reach the cornucopia within five minutes, well... then let's just say it won't go well for you."

My head suddenly feels as if it's exploding. My hands turn to razors and my teeth become pointed. My vision clears and I feel much stronger. I take a step and suddenly zoom forward at least ten yards. I take another step and go another ten yards. I almost run into a tree, but I dodge it just in time.

As I take another step, a tribute suddenly dashes in front of me and I run straight into them with a force so strong we're both shoved backward. I land against a tree and crumble to the ground, but quickly shoot to my legs. I don't feel normal. I bare my pointed teeth and lunge at the tribute. I raise my razor hand and aim it at the tribute's chest. That's when I realize who the tribute is.

It's Mathaius.


End file.
